Hi everyone. Had my '55 for 6 days now. Had it on the lift and could see a puddle of transmission oil on the floor. If I had to guess, maybe a pint or less. I've read alot of threads in this section and know that they do leak at times. I'm not the least bit upset by it. I knew it could happen and furthermore, an OD transmission is in it's future. I really don't plan on doing anything about it. I'll monitor it and make sure there is always enough fluid in it. I do believe mine is leaking from where the speedometer cable going into the trans. and the seal in the tail shaft. Probably didn't help that the car sat for 4 years without starting and moving, Carmine.
Powerglide leaks
Carmine2
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Hi everyone. Had my '55 for 6 days now. Had it on the lift and could see a puddle of transmission oil on the floor. If I had to guess, maybe a pint or less. I've read alot of threads in this section and know that they do leak at times. I'm not the least bit upset by it. I knew it could happen and furthermore, an OD transmission is in it's future. I really don't plan on doing anything about it. I'll monitor it and make sure there is always enough fluid in it. I do believe mine is leaking from where the speedometer cable going into the trans. and the seal in the tail shaft. Probably didn't help that the car sat for 4 years without starting and moving, Carmine.
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Every Powerglide my family had leaked especially if they sat for more than a day. On my last 57 I spent $1000 to get it rebuilt, installed vent tubes and it still leaked. I ended up Upgrading to a TH350 behind the stock 283 and it was way better driving and NO LEAKS.
They seem to have this common issue with burping up through the short dipstick tube when parked for long periods of time. Mine leaked and dripped in different places every time. For a long time I used an oil drain tray with a fill cap on it to catch the leak and funnel it back into the transmission. I’d lose a quart every week and carried a quart around with a transmission funnel everywhere I went.
Some Powerglide owners don’t have those issues and either they were oblivious or got lucky with one that worked properly.
I've owned this car for 5 weeks now, and I can't for the life of me, figure out where the transmission is leaking fluid from. The underside of the transmission, has droplets of fluid all over. I wipe it clean and a few days later, the same thing. I venture to say I loss about 1 qt. of fluid or so. It's hard to tell because it spreads out so much on the floor. I'm still not overly concerned about the leaks because I am going to replace it this Winter. With the way things are going, maybe sooner. It's just annoying to look at. I'm thinking about putting a good quality transmission stop leak in it. I've never done it before from what I can recall. Anybody have any experience or suggestions?? Thank you, Carmine.
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I did quite a bit of research trying to stop the leaks on a 55 convertible for a customer his was leaving puddles & was worse than most he had replaced it twice & had it rebuilt.They had created a big part of their own problems.They had added factory AC to this car with that they couldn’t use the original fill tube to fill the trans & had plugged the hole effectively causing no venting to the case they filled the trans through a hole drilled in the case side cover where the tube normally goes that is the way the factory did it but they kept the fill tube because it was the only vent. I drilled a hole in the top of the tailhousing tapped for a 1/8 pipe plug & ran a hose from it all the way up to the master cylinder area inserted a plastic vent like would go in a rear axle or a 350 turbo trans. The trans still would build so much pressure that it blew fluid out the vent hose clear up by the master cyl.Next I reinstalled a fill tube added 3” of hose & another vent in the top of the hose.it went from leaving puddles everywhere to a spot the size of a half dollar after a few days.sitting over the winter according to the owner it left about a 8” pool. As I said I did a lot of research according to the people at Fatsco Transmission they sell parts for old car transmissions the reason the cast iron glide leaks and the infamous Burp is caused by the input shaft steel sealing ring wearing into the valve body that causes the torque converter to leak fluid back into the case till the fluid level raises up past the shift shaft & throttle shaft seals and speedo bullet & dump fluid on the floor they have some improved seals & a new designed speedo bullet to help but till the trans is dissembled & a modified valve body is installed I think you can only help not cure the leaks when these cars were driven daily this wasn’t all that much of a problem Stop leak might help a little as it swells the rubber seals Sorry for the long winded post. I like your idea of the 200r4 forget the leaks.
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That explains what happened to my old 57 then. I had it rebuilt (because it slipped and didn't go anywhere after the first week of driving) and he said the steel thrust washer, which sounds like the one you mentioned, disintegrated. He replaced it with an NOS one but I don't think it fixed the problem because it leaked more and more after a while. He ran a vent tube too like what you did, it seemed to help a bit then went back to doing what it used to do, although no fluid came up the vent. I ended up converting to a TH350 to get away from pouring more money into the iron glide, and it was a way more responsive, smoother, better on fuel and made the car 200lbs lighter.
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The only reason it pushed all the way up the vent hose I installed was because whoever had previously worked on the car didn’t realize that the only way these cast iron glides vent is through the cap on the fill tube & they had plugged that up tight as the fluid aerated it built lots of pressure internally I’ve read that if the fill tube was replaced with one from a 58-62 that are a couple inches longer that would help the burping add a vent hose to the tailhousing plus new shift shaft seal, throttle shaft seal & revised speedo bullet & you will probably help but not cure some of the leaking & burping concerns but not all until the valve body & input shaft seal are repaired. Fatsco transmission can exchange a valve body sent out machined & resleeved back to the original dimensions they have to have the casting number from the the current valve body to match up before repairing.ive talked to them but haven’t actually done the repair your thrust washer was probably not the same as what I’m talking about on the input shaft sealing ring & valve body but the leak likely was
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Same thing leave them set for extended time a great deal of the fluid drains back out of the converter filling up the case to the point it leaks out the fill tube or probably more often when you start it up the converter being mostly empty aerates the fluid & pushes a big puking mess out the fill tube & leaving it low helps but starting it every few days even better
Interesting story. Thanks for sharing that. I haven't had the car started in 5 weeks, so it's long over due. Think I'll start it twice weekly and see if that matters. I know I'm going to swap it out eventually, but it's the mess that it leaves, Carmine.
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Carmine - Contrary to what you said in your 2/28 post "Yeah, no biggie. I'm not the least excited or concerned about it. I would probably feel much differently if I planned on keeping it in the car, Carmine." You sure seem to be obsessing about it! :sign0020:
Nope. In the scheme of what could go wrong with this car, that leaking is nothing that a 200-4R won't fix. It really is no biggie. I have a clean, organized garage and just hate the sight of what this transmission leaves on the floor. My other automatics never leaked like this before. It's just something I don't like and will have to tolerate until making the switch. BTW, I'm assuming GM knew about this issue. How long did they let it go on for, before taking corrective measures, or didn't they?? Thanks, Carmine.
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My first car was a 57 4dr hardtop although I exploded the trans 3 or 4 times they didn’t like 80mph in low very well I don’t remember mine or any of my friends & we all were driving these cars in 63 had a problem with leaks but we were driving them every day but you have to remember these P/G parts are now nearly 65 years old & that valve body input shaft seal Problem is something that has I sure just continue to become more of a problem the older they are as no new valve body parts have been made for years at least that’s my thoughts why they are such a pain in the a- - leak wise really bad for someone wanting to keep these cars original
I'm going to keep this car original as possible, within reason, and at the same time satisfy my needs. There will be an engine, transmission and brake change in it's future. I do believe that is it. Whatever parts I remove, I will store properly for the next owner. I would never consider cutting, altering or modifying and metal or body part on this car, Carmine.
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I don't think they ever fixed it.
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With a little ingenuity there usually a way to accomplish what you want to do without getting the cutting torch or cut off wheel out simple example speedo cable to 350 or 200 4R in your car seen more than one have a hole blowed through the x frame for the cable to go through why? Buy a 90* adapter for the cable
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Just put a pan under it and "forget about it". When driving and you make a left turn, the trans will slip if its low on fluid. Add some fluid, clean the pan and "forget about it". I don't think GM gives a rip about a 60year old tranny.:sign0020:
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